Gear Post!

Since my Boulder Peak post, I've been wanting to talk about some of the new gear and toys I've picked up for training and racing.

Behold, the picture!


Pretty stuff!

So. What we have:

Tyr Transition Bag. Snazzy birthday present from Brandon. While I loved using my Timbuk for racing, the trans bag holds seriously EVERYTHING. I would use it as my new carry on for flying if it weren't so huge. I'm pretty sure it would not fit under the seat in front of me and might only possibly fit in the overhead bin.

Bell Lumen Helmet. While my old Giro Skyla (mountain bike helmet, technically) served me well for a good four, five years, I figured it was time to get an actual road/tri helmet. I saw this helmet pictured in Triathlete magazine's gear guide this year in their bike basics. Since I had a limited helmet budget (and a handy dandy gift certificate from the parents for TriSports.com for the birthday), this one became the winner. Only complaint so far? Harder to squeeze my ponytail through the pony hole. That sounded bad.

SaltStick Caps. Also known as salt tabs. At the 5430 sprint, we were talking to some more experienced triathletes near me in transition and one guy said the best advice he could give us for the 70.3 was salt tabs. So, when we picked up the trans bag, we also picked up a bottle of salt tabs. So far, they've worked great. Next step: SaltStick dispenser. Ziplocs don't work so well on the bike unless one is stopped.

Profile Design Aqualite Aero Bottle. What may be my saving grace regarding hydration on the bike. I'm weird in that I tend to take in liquids better if I have a straw to take them in (like, say, in a restaurant). Plus I haaaaaatttteee reaching down for a water bottle, particularly if I'm in aero. So, the aero bottle. I actually hydrate now! Next step: buy a bigger one. Only issue is that liquids sploosh out the top and you get splattered a bit which isn't that big of an issue if it's just water in there, but I typically have an Ironman Perform/water mixture and, um, yeah. Bob becomes a sticky mess.

Nathan Sprint Handheld Water Bottle. We got Brandon a fuel belt; I figured we didn't need two and I've carried a water bottle on runs before ... so I decided to get this little guy. Once I cut out the tag, it's worked great. It only holds 10 oz of fluid, but I don't typically run much longer than 7 or 8 miles (unless I'm half training ... which will be coming up shortly) and I usually never hydrated anyway, so this will be a good thing. Plus I actually hydrate on runs now which is kinda nice.

Nike Lunarglide+ 2's. My new running shoes. Weirdly enough, I landed in Nikes for the second straight shoe go around (so far, I've been in Adidas, Saucony and Mizuno before two rounds of Nikes), after having been in the Zoom Structure Triax 13s. When I got the ZST13s, my shoe fitter at my local running store actually tried me in Lunarglides, but we decided against them since I had just started with the midfoot strike. This time, they work well for me. They're a little snug due to my deformed feet, but as long as my form stays correct, they work fine.

Finally, Bob got an upgrade:


Purple!

Yep, like Melon before him, Bob got new handlebar tape. I think it's pretty and works so well on him.

So yeah, fun new toys. I'll actually be trying the Sprint out during the half-mar part of the half-Iron on Sunday just so I can have some Perform with me.